Decided to take a trip out to Mystic Mountain in Ocho Rios this weekend.
Mystic is one of the main tourist attractions but having been here for 2 and a 1/2 years I've never been.
So the day started with a nice leisurely drive from Kingston to Ochi on the new highway which I have to say is fantastic for cutting down on time but bloody steep to get up.
On the way I passed through a gorge at a place called Flatbridge and stopped off to see Pum Pum Rock. I have heard of it but never seen it whilst driving past so I pulled over to take a look......
Well, I'll leave you to guess what Pum Pum means in Jamaica LOL :-)
So, Finally got to Mystic Mountain and decided that I would go an all the attractions, the Sky Explorer (which you have to go on to get into and out of the park anyway, think Ski Lift through the treetops) you all remember that thing about me and heights right??
Going Up.......
Looking back down.......
At this point I'm sweating like a Pig, I've got my eyes closed cus I'm feeling sick, I finally got a grip of myself halfway up and actually started to enjoy it though so not too bad, but all of the time in the back of my mind my voice is whispering........... theres still the ziplining .......... theres still the ziplining....... Woooooohhhhhhh.
Anyhow, I lived to get to the top and decided to get some lunch before I did everything else.
(Small Tip, the restaurant is ridiculously expensive for what you get and the menu is very limited so being as the park doesnt allow you to take food in, go have Lunch somewhere else first)
After lunch it was off to the Bobsled :-) Now we are talking, the sleds were single cars but ours were hooked together, I was the brake guy in the front (I wouldn't say driver, Gravity is the driver) so off we go, push the lever forward to go and pull back to slow down, don't think so........... the guy said it was safe to go fast so lever forward and leave it there :-) :-) :-) Well it was fast, very fast, plenty of banking turns and a rapid decent rate but it was all over in just a couple of minutes which was far too short a run.....
When you get to the bottom there is a chain to pull you back up the mountain to the start
Once bach up top I decided to go up to the lookout tower, The view of Ochi is fantastic.
Then the moment of truth,........................ Ziplining Time................
When you first enter the park they make you sign a declaration that states that they are are not responsible for any injuries you may pick up along the way, I'm regretting not reading it before I signed it. So I get to the ziplining point and they make you sign it again!! I'm allocated to group 6 and told to take a seat for what felt like an uncomfortable and nervous 3 hours (it was actually only about 20 minutes but you know what I mean)
Group 6 gets called and its time to suit up..............
I don't look nervous at all do I?..........................
So the guide tells the group that we have 4 ziplines and a vertical drop to get down.......
VERTICAL DROP!! VERTICAL WHAT?? WTF!! NOBODY SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A VERTICAL DROP!!
Ah well, in for a penny as they say, so off we go and the guide is a real joker and starts telling us how to hook in with the gear and making it impossible to understand before finally telling us not to touch anything and they will do all the rigging..... hmmmm.....
Couldn't really get any pictures whilst doing the ziplining but I did get a picture looking back at the vertical drop, 30 feet, straight down in less than a second!!!! scared the crap out of me and when the guy put the brakes on at the last minute I think one of my testicles ended up in my chest cavity for a moment.......
So we are now almost halfway down the mountain, 1 more zipline to go and then to get to the bottom, yeah you guessed it, the sky explorer again..... I'm all done with heights and swinging through trees for today. Going the rest of the way down wasn't too bad actually. I kind of knew what to expect and it felt a little more leisurely on the way down.
So, back to Kingston then, but before we go, I wanted to look for a place called blue hole which is a waterfall swimming lagoon pool type place which sounded really good so off I went.
Not being sure of exactly where it was, I pulled over and asked this guy for directions.
He was sat at the side of the road selling organic brownies and muffins made with all natural ingredients and herbal plant extracts ;-) you can find him on Instagram @Iriepastry (I recommend the muffins)
With the help of my new entrepreneurial friend I headed to the place and his directions were perfect, Thank you very much :-)
And this is what I found...........
Guess where one of the future weekends adventures is coming from :-) there is also a new water park in the same area that has just opened up. Its a man made beach so I think we will be trying there too.
More ramblings from the travelling Englishman soon.............
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